These were requested as part of the dress code for my weekend of services with the Erleigh Cantors in St. Alban’s Cathedral. We had a busy weekend which began with a wedding on the Saturday morning as well as the usual round of services. The organ has now been refurbished, though it is still the subject of an appeal.
There were three new pieces for me. Firstly Charles Theodore Pachelbel’s Magnificat, which has the distinction of having been performed at the first documented concert in New York City. It is a pleasant piece with a notable Italian influence. On Sunday morning we sang Lassus’ Ave verum, which I was surprised not to have encountered before and look forward to singing again. Finally on Sunday evening came Leighton’s O God enfold me in the sun, a relatively early work with characteristic spikiness and a strong modern text.
Apart from that there were some favourite pieces such as Purcell’s Hear my prayer, Holst’s Nunc Dimittis and my favourite Reponses, Richard Lloyd’s second setting. (We did the final dismissal from them too!) We brought back Michael Walsh’s Mass of the Holy Trinity, with its top B’s for the first sopranos (at least that is a semitone lower than required for the Langlais last year). Wesley’s evening canticles in E are very firmly imprinted on my memory, since I recorded them when I was a student; unfortunately they are also imprinted at the speeds the conductor of that recording chose, so I had to make a conscious effort not to sing them the way I knew.
Our next meeting will be a weekend in Winchester Cathedral in October.